Portable gate



Sept. 16, 1958 L. MOPHADEN 2,851,746

PORTABLE GATE Filed Nov. 30, 1953 LAWRENCE M PHADEN F 4 2Q{ (Ittorneu United States Patent OlliC 2,851,746 Patented Sept. 16, 1958 PORTABLE GATE Lawrence McPhaden, Girard Township, Erie County, Pa. Application November 30, 1953, Serial No. 395,047 4 Claims. (Cl. 20-71) This invention relates generally to closures and more particularly to closure gates or partitions to be placed in doorways or archways between rooms or leading to the outdoors from dwelling houses for the purpose of preventing children from, entering unauthorized rooms or from leaving the house.

In gates and closures made according to prior designs and with which I am familiar, the gates and closures were usually made in such manner that they required hinges or other fastening means for attaching them to the doorjambs or to the walls of the rooms of the house. Furthermore, some designs of gates of this nature were made of crossed members whereby the links were connected in parallel pantograph form, thereby making the gate adaptable in varying widths of openings. This type of gate was inconvenient to use and often endangered the user and caused injury because.,of,the action of the links.

It is, accordingly, an object of my invention to overcome the above and other defects and disadvantages in prior gates and more particularly it is an object of my invention to provide a gate for closing doors, archways, and similar passageways in dwelling houses by providing a gate which is simple in construction, economical to manufacture, and .elficient and effective to use.

Another object of my invention. is to provide a gate which can be adjusted to fit various widths of openings.

Another object of my invention is to provide a gate which does not require hinges for mounting it on a doorway or passageway.

A further object of my invention is to provide a novel locking device for holding a gate in position in a passageway.

A further object of my invention is to provide a novel type of adjustable gate.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists of the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, proportions, and minor details of construction without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a view of my novel gate;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view of my gate in position to be inserted in a doorway; and

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 1.

Now with more specific reference to the drawing, I show a gate 1 having end members 2 and 3 adapted to be disposed adjacent to the jambs of a door or to the post of a gate or other passageway. The end member 2 has the pads 4 and 5 attached to the brackets 6 and 7. The pads 4 and 5 may be cemented to the brackets 6 and transported to another location.

and 7 or they may be held thereto by means of rivets 8 and 9. The brackets 6 and 7 may be glued or cemented to the post or end member 2 or they may be held thereto by screws or similar fastening devices.

The end post 3 in like manner has pads 10 and 11 made of resilient material similar to pads 4 and 5 and attached to the brackets 12 and 13 in the same manner that the pads 4 and 5 are attached to the brackets 6 and 7.

The laterally extending top member 14 is similar in construction to the bottom member 15. The top member 14 is made up of the member 16 and the hinged member 117. The link or hinged member 117 is U-shaped in cross section as shown in Fig. 4 and has the connecting legs connected thereto at 18, one leg extend ing on each side of the post 2. The hinged member 117 is pivoted to the post 2 by means of a pin 118 and pivoted to the intermediate member 16 by pin 19. The intermediate leg 20 of the hinged member 117 rests on the top edge 21 of the intermediate member 16. It will be noted that the pin 118 is located generally on the axial center line of the transverse member 14 and the pin 19 by which the member 117 is attached to the member 16 is located below the axial center line so that when the gate is in position between the doorway by a toggle effect, the inward force on the pads 10 and 4 will cause the toggle action of the hinged member 117 to force the intermediate leg 20 into firmercontact with the top surface 21 of the intermediate member 16.

The other end of the member 16 has holes 25 and 26 therein which register with the slot 23 in the attaching member 218. The attaching member 218 is generally U-shaped in cross section and its lower leg extends around the bottom of the member 16 at 24. The holes 25 and 26 register with the slot 23 in the member 218 and a bolt 22 can be put in either hole 25 or 26 to lock the member 21 to member 218 and to lock member 15 to member 32. By loosening the wing nuts 29 of the threaded end 30, the member 16 can be slid laterally in the member 218 to adjust'the width of the gate to fit various sized openings. j r V The member'30 'is similar in construction to the member 117 and the member 32 is similar in construction to the member 218; that is, the member 30 is made up of the U-shaped member 33 pivoted to the post 2 at 34 having the legs 35 extending laterally from the U-shaped section 36 having the legs of the U-shaped section 36 connected by the member 37 and pivoted to the transverse member 38 at 39. The connecting member 32 is U-shaped in cross section and has the legs 40 pivoted to the post 3 at 41 and has the U-shaped section 42 having a slot 43 therein registering with the slot in the member 38. The holes 45 and 46 are similar to the holes 25 and 26 of the member 218.

Fig. 3 shows the gate with the toggle members lifted to slightly reduce the width of the gate for removing it from an opening. In operation, the toggle 'members will be lifted as shown in Fig. 3 and the gate set in the doorway or passageway and adjusted and the bolts 22 in the holes 25, 26, 45, and 46 adjusted to make the gate fit snugly in the doorway. Then the links 18 and 33 will be forced down to the position shown in Fig. 1 whereby the width of the gate will be slightly increased and the gate will be locked firmly in the doorway by means of the pads 4, 5, 10, and 11 engaging the doorjambs or gate posts to hold the gate firmly in position. It will be noted that the resilient pads will not mar the finish of the gate posts and the gate can be readily moved Once the adjustment of the width has been made for one particular doorway or gateway, no further adjustment of the gate is required.

In the foregoing specification, I have set forth the invention in its preferred practical forms but I am aware that the structure shown is capable of modification within a range of equivalents without departing from the invention which is to be understood is broadly novel as is commensurate with the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A gate comprising a first post and a second post, said posts being vertically disposed and spaced from each other, each said post having spaced resilient pads attached to the edge thereof remote from said other post, said resilient pads being adapted to engage the inside surfaces of a door jamb, a top member and a bottom member disposed horizontally in spaced parallel relation to each other, means rigidly connecting said top and said bottom members together and to said second post, and a top and a bottom link, one end of each said top and bottom link being swingably connected to said first post at spaced positions thereon, an intermediate portion of said top link being pivotally connected to said top member and the distal end of said top link having means engaging said top member, said bottom link being pivotally connected at an intermediate point to said bottom member and having means on the distal end thereof engaging said bottom member, limiting the downward swinging movement of said distal end, said pivotal connection between said top link and said top member being dosposed below a horizontal line passing through said swingable connection between said first post and said top link, said pivotal connection between said bottom link and said bottom member being disposed below a horizontal line passing through said swingable connection between said bottom link and said first post, the distal ends of said links being swingable upward about their swingable connection on said first post to move said first and second posts toward each other.

2. A gate comprising a first post and a second post, said posts being vertically disposed and spaced from each other, each said post having resilient pads on the edges thereof remote from the other said post, a top and a bottom member disposed in spaced parallel relation to each other, means rigidly connecting said top and said bottom member together, said top and said bottom mem- 4 ber being connected to said second post, and spaced links having one end pivotally connected to said first post to swing in a vertical plane and connected at an intermediate point to one said top and bottom member, the distal 5 end of said links each having means thereon engaging one of said top and bottom members holding said links in alignment with one said top and bottom member and holding said posts in separated position, said links and said top and bottom member being swingable upward- 1y to pull said posts toward each other, said links being U-shaped in cross section, the legs of said U being vertically disposed and lying along the sides of said top and bottom member, each said leg of said U having a pin extending therethrough and through one of said top and bottom members, said legs of said U being connected by an intermediate leg, each said leg of said U-shaped links lying along one side of said first post, said intermediate portion of said connecting U-shaped member legs being cut away adjacent said first post.

3. The gate recited in claim 2 wherein said second post is connected to said top and bottom members by a second member U-shaped in cross section, said top and bottom members being disposed between the legs of said second U-shaped member.

4. The gate recited in claim 3 wherein said top and bottom members are attached to said second U-shaped member by means of a slot in the legs of said U-shaped member extending parallel to said top and bottom members, and bolts are provided extending through said slots and through said top and bottom members, said second U-shaped member being slidable on said bolts in said slots whereby the length of said gate can be adjusted, said bolt having locking means thereon to lock said second U-shaped member in fixed position relative to said top and bottom members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 139,232 Boughton May 27, 1873 958,481 Drinkwater May 17, 1910 2,574,807 Woodruff Nov. 13, 1951 2,577,034 Quinlan Dec. 4, 1951 2,581,857 Harrison Jan. 8, 1952 

